India vs New Zealand 2024, 3rd Test: Toss result and playing XIs for today's match, umpires list and pitch report
Down 2-0 in the series, India will look to avoid an embarrassing and rather unexpected whitewash when they take on New Zealand in the third Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai starting Friday, November 1. A well-prepared Kiwis have dominated the hosts with both bat and ball, and it would be fair to say that Rohit Sharma and co. have been caught unawares.
If New Zealand's pace bowling and poor tactical calls unsettled India in Bengaluru, the left-am spin of Mitchell Santner proved to be the difference in Pune as India's tried and tested batters failed to stand up to the challenge. Santner outshone India's seasoned spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin to register a historic Test series triumph in India.
Heading into the final Test in Mumbai, skipper Rohit will be under pressure both as leader and batter. Senior pro Virat Kohli also has been short of runs. In a nutshell, both India's batting and bowling will be on trial at the Wankhede Stadium against the high-flying Kiwis.
India vs New Zealand 3rd Test toss result
New Zealand have won the toss and have opted to bat first. Tom Latham said:
“[It] looks a reasonably good surface. Hopefully, we can again put some runs on the board and put pressure on them.”
New Zealand have two changes. Mitchell Santner has a side strain, so Ish Sodhi comes in, while Matt Henry is back for Tim Southee. For India, Jasprit Bumrah is not well, so Mohammed Siraj replaces him.
IND vs NZ 3rd Test match playing XIs
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (w), Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Ajaz Patel, William O'Rourke
IND vs NZ 3rd Test pitch report
In his pitch report, Dinesh Karthik states that there is a little bit of moisture in the pitch and hence it is dark brownish color. There will be a little bit of turn at the start; as the day progresses, it might get slightly better to bat on, he reckons. As the game progresses, there will be a lot more turn, Karthik adds. The former stumper expects the team winning the toss to bat first.
IND vs NZ 3rd Test match players list
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Dhruv Jurel, and Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Will Young, Tom Blundell (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, William O' Rourke, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Ajaz Patel, and Mark Chapman
IND vs NZ 3rd Test match umpires
On-field umpires: Michael Gough, Richard Illingworth
TV umpire: Paul Reiffel
Match Referee: David Boon